Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

Although elecampane has never been proven to stimulate the uterus, it has been used traditionally to promote menstruation. For that reason, pregnant women should not use it. Animal studies show that small doses of the herb lower blood sugar levels, but higher doses raise them. These studies have not been replicated in humans, but diabetics should steer clear of the herb.

Sensitive individuals may develop a rash from skin contact with elecampane or its oil. Otherwise, no harmful effects have been reported.

Elecampane is included in the Food and Drug Administration’s list of herbs generally regarded as safe. For otherwise healthy non-pregnant, non-nursing adults who do not have diabetes, elecampane is considered safe in amounts typically recommended.

If elecampane causes minor discomforts, such as stomach upset or diarrhea, use less or stop using it. Elecampane should be used only in consultation with your doctor. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.

A Beauty of a Plant

Elecampane is a striking perennial that reaches 5 feet and produces a large flower, hence its common name, wild sunflower. The entire plant is covered with woolly hairs. The medicinal roots are large, branching, and fleshy.

Elecampane may be started from seeds sown indoors in late winter, then transplanted. But once plants have been established, the herb is best propagated from 2-inch root cuttings taken in autumn from the buds (”eyes”) of two-year-old roots. Cover the cuttings with moist, sandy soil and store for the winter in a cool indoor room. Plant the cuttings 3 feet apart after danger of frost has passed. Deeply cultivated soil produces the biggest roots.

Elecampane likes rich, moist, well-drained, slightly acid loam and full sun or partial shade. Harvest the roots during the autumn of their second year. Older roots become too woody. To speed drying, slice roots into pieces.

The Food and Drug Administration says elecampane “was employed by the ancients for diseases in which it was probably of no service.” This herb has not been well researched, but the few scientific studies to date suggest that for once, Nicholas Culpeper wasn’t completely off the deep end.

Intestinal Parasites - European scientists have discovered elecampane contains a chemical (alantolactone) that really does help expel intestinal parasites, as Culpeper claimed for the herb. The herb also kills some bacteria and fungi, adding to its potential therapeutic action in the intestine.

Intestinal parasites, especially pinworms and giardiasis (caused by the protozoan Giardia lamblia) are a growing problem in the United States. Families with children in day care are particularly susceptible.

Intestinal parasites are quite common in the tropics. If you travel overseas, do what Helen of Troy did-take some elecampane with you.

Women’s Health - Elecampane has not been shown to stimulate uterine contractions, but because of its long tradition as a menstruation promoter, women may want to try some to help bring on their periods.

Intriguing Possibilities - In animal tests conducted in Europe, elecampane reduces blood pressure. People with high blood pressure might try it in consultation with their physicians.

Elecampane has been shown to have a sedative effect in experimental animals. Those with insomnia might try some before bed.

Rx for Elecampane

Elecampane’s main use is to help prevent and fight intestinal parasites To use it for this purpose or (in consultation with your physician) to keep your blood pressure down, use either a decoction or a tincture. For a decoction, gently boil 1 to 2 teaspoons of dried, powdered root in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes. The taste is bitter. Take 1 or 2 tablespoons at a time with honey, up to 2 cups a day.

In a tincture, use ¼ to ½ teaspoon up to three times a day. Elecampane should not be given to children under age 2. For older children and people over 65, start with low-strength preparations and increase strength if necessary.

Good-bye, Intestinal Parasites

Family: Compositae; (includes Daisy, Dandelion, Marigold)

Genus and Species: Inula Helenium

Also known as: Wild Sunflower, Velvet Dock, Scabwort, Horse Heal

Parts used: Root

Legend has it that Helen of Troy carried a handful of elecampane on the fateful day the Trojan prince, Paris, abducted her from Sparta, igniting the Trojan War. Perhaps the woman whose face launched 1,000 ships had amoebic dysentery, pinworms, hookworms, or giardiasis. We’ll probably never know. But we do know the herb with the Latin name that memorializes the Greek beauty may help expel parasites from the intestine.

“Let No Day Pass”

Hippocrates said elecampane stimulated the brain, kidneys, stomach, and uterus. The ancient Romans used it to treat indigestion. The Roman naturalist Pliny wrote: “Let no day pass without eating some roots of elecampane to help digestion, expel melancholy, and cause mirth.” And the Roman physician Galen recommended the herb as “good for passion of the hucklebone [sciatica].”

Traditional Chinese and Indian Ayurvedic physicians used elecampane to treat respiratory problems, particularly bronchitis and asthma.

Used on Horses and Sheep

During the Middle Ages, European herbalists prescribed elecampane to treat coughs, bronchitis, and asthma, but the herb was more popular as a veterinary medicine. It was reputed to cure scab disease in sheep, hence one popular name, scabwort It was also considered a panacea for horses, and for that reason it was also known as horseheal.

As time passed, elecampane regained its reputation as a human digestive aid. It was the main ingredient in a medieval elixir known as potio Paulina, an allusion to St. Paul.

Seventeenth-century London herbalist Nicholas Culpeper touted elecampane “to relieve cough, shortness of breath, and wheezing in the lungs.” Echoing Galen, he also suggested the herb for sciatica, and claimed it restored vision and cured gout, sores, and “worms in the stomach.”

Elecampane root was also candied and eaten as a confection. Lozenges combining elecampane and honey were used to treat whooping cough (pertussis).

Popular in the New World

Early American colonists naturalized elecampane and used it as an expectorant. digestive aid, menstruation promoter, and diuretic for treatment of the water retention associated with “dropsy” (congestive heart failure) Indian tribes in the Northeast adopted the plant for respiratory problems.

America’s 19th-century Eclectic physicians also used elecampane as a diuretic and menstruation promoter, but prescribed it primarily for “asthma, bronchial and chronic pulmonary [lung] affections, weakness of the digestive organs, itching, dyspepsia [indigestion], night sweats, and severe colds.”

Present-day herbalists generally recommend elecampane only for respiratory ailments: cough, asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema. Some recommend it as a digestive aid, as a treatment for menstrual and skin problems, and to banish intestinal parasites.